Norwalk Historical Marker

It's always incredible to read about stuff in a town's history that goes back to the 1600's.

But having said that, this is a strange marker because it describes a lot of things that didn't happen.

For example, a guy named Daniel Patrick was deeded some land by the Indians in 1640, but no one settled in that new land. Also, a guy named Roger Ludlow got some more nearby Indian land, but no one settled there either. That's a pretty sizeable amount of room on this plaque describing non-settlements. Some Hartford families finally settled in the areas in 1651.

This is a two-sided marker from the CT Historical Commission, with the familiar white lettering on a blue background. It has the same inscription on both sides. . It's located on a strip of grass between a cemetery and a funeral home. The marker dates to 1977 and is in a distressed condition. The white lettering is in pretty good shape but the blue background is showing obvious signs of chipping, peeling, and fading.

The plaque's full inscription reads:

First in recorded history came a navigator, Adriaen Block, in 1614 who called the Norwalk Islands "Archipelago." In 1640 Daniel Patrick from the New Haven Colony obtained a deed from local Indians conveying land on the west side of the Norwalk River. But that colony sent no settlers to the grant. Roger Ludlow of the Connecticut Colony, perhaps to halt further penetration by Patrick's claim towards his Fairfield settlement, secured and Indian grant of land on the east side of the river in 1641. Neither Patrick nor Ludlow settled here. In 1651 Nathaniel Ely and Richard Olmstead led thirteen families from the Hartford area to the Ludlow grant. The first homes rose on both sides of a path, now East Avenue near its intersection with Fort Point Street. On September 22, 1651 the General Court of the Connecticut Colony decreed "that Norwauke shall bee a Towne."

Erected 1977 by City of Norwalk, Norwalk Historical Commission & the Connecticut Historical Commission.